


Just What Friends Do

by afteriwake



Series: Stuff Of Improbable Legends [5]
Category: Sherlock (TV), Star Trek: Alternate Original Series (Movies)
Genre: Drunk Molly, Gen, Inspired by Roleplay/Roleplay Adaptation, Male-Female Friendship, POV McCoy, Roleplay Logs
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-01-28
Updated: 2016-01-28
Packaged: 2018-05-16 21:29:54
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,162
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5841679
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/afteriwake/pseuds/afteriwake
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Even in the midst of landing in the worst possible point in the past for them to land on and all of the things neither of them really needed to be reminded of being shoved in their face, even with as hard as it was, he wasn't going to leave her side.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Just What Friends Do

**Author's Note:**

  * For [sideofrawr](https://archiveofourown.org/users/sideofrawr/gifts).



> So **sideofrawr** and I went back and figured out the worst possible time for McCoy and Molly to arrive in NOLA in game and figured it be around the beginning or middle of April 2013, right when all the "Star Trek Into Darkness" stuff was going on and Benedict Cumberbatch was all over, and then the idea for this fic came up and BOOM. Now that my 900th is done, I could write it. Enjoy!

Someone up above had to hate the both of them, really. He was sure of it. It was bad enough getting picked up out of Lawrence and tossed to a strange new city in a place with new rules where weird things happened, but they were tossed back years in the past.

All the way back to April 2013.

Which, unfortunately, was just in time for all the details of that second damn movie about his life to start spilling out onto the internet and into the press.

Trying to shield Molly from all of it was a headache and a half. And damn it all if that Cumberbatch person wasn’t all over the place. What the hell had he done to be so popular? It was hell for her to have to see his face all over the place. Even if he wasn’t that bastard that was _his_ face, _his_ voice that the man had. 

It was almost enough to drive him back to drink, to be honest.

Too bad Molly had beaten him to it first.

He didn’t know what had set it off this time. There weren’t many others in NOLA with them and none of them really knew her all that well. He was all she had. He’d gotten a few garbled texts and realized she was at the bar near the hotel they’d been staying at. Eventually they’d need to figure out more permanent housing, and if Molly was up to making long-term plans, see if it was worth getting a complex like what Jim had had in Lawrence with her magicked debit card. Trying to start a life for themselves and the others that might show up.

But right now it was time to get her back to the room, get her to bed and deal with whatever tomorrow brought.

He got the key in the door while keeping an arm around her waist as she leaned into him. They were in one of those old hotels that had actual keys, and even though she had her own he knew she wasn’t in any state to be attempting to put the key in the lock. She was mumbling into his shoulder and it was awkward trying to balance the two of them and let them in. When he finally managed to get it in they stumbled inside and she nearly fell on her butt but he caught her at the last minute. “Hey, steady,” he said.

“Shoulda let me fall,” she mumbled into his chest.

“I’m not going to let you fall,” he said, keeping her close. He managed to shut the door behind them and then guided her to the bed she’d claimed. He got her down on it and then squatted down and took her shoes off her feet. “What did you drink tonight?”

“Whiskey,” she said, groaning slightly. “Too much whiskey.”

“You sound like Jim,” he said, shaking his head. He wasn’t sure whether he should get her undressed or not; chances were she wouldn’t like it, so he could either offer her the chance to use the bathroom to change if she felt up to it or see if she felt like spending the evening in her clothes. At least she hadn’t gotten sick. He was thankful for that. “What happened?”

“Stupid interview on the telly this morning,” she said, flopping back onto the bed. Yeah, he knew she wasn’t going to change out of what she was wearing. When he got her shoes off she curled up on her side and then pulled her feet up on the bed. “Had to be reminded of his stupid facetwin.”

He nodded and then stood up before sitting on the edge of the bed by her legs. He wasn’t going to judge her, not in the slightest. After his divorce he’d found more comfort in a flask or a bottle of whiskey than he wanted to admit, so he wasn’t going to begrudge that to her. He’d just be there to help keep her going as best he could. She was his friend, after all. Only one he had in this town, really. And she’d impressed him long ago, back in Lawrence, even when he hadn’t thought she would. Hell, considering she’d dated the man who was one of the few he could honestly say he loathed, he’d thought he would hate her, but the minute he met her he _wanted_ to be around her. Leaving her to her misery would be real shitty of him.

“You need anything?” he asked.

“Just sleep,” she said. “But I don’t wanna sleep alone.”

He was surprised by that. “Do you want me to sleep next to you?” he asked.

She nodded slightly. “Yeah.” After a moment he reached down and took off his own shoes before getting off the bed and then going around it to get to the other side. He lay down next to her, and after a moment Molly gingerly rolled over to face him. “You must think I’m so pathetic.”

“I think you’re a lot of things, but pathetic isn’t one of them,” he said, reaching over between them to tuck a strand of hair behind her ear. “Trust me, I’ve been in this position before.”

“Yeah?” she asked.

He nodded. “Yeah,” he said. “You just need a good friend like I had.”

“James?” she asked, and he nodded. “He is a good friend. He was a good friend to me, all things considered.”

“He’s a good man,” he replied. “Probably would have been worse off if I hadn’t met him, even if I didn’t always feel that way in our Academy days. But I can at least return the favor with you.”

“But I’m a mess, and I’m causing you so much trouble,” she said. “I’m sorry.”

“Hey,” he said, moving closer, getting close enough to pull her against him. “Neither of us asked for this. You and I didn’t ask to be sent years in the past and land in the middle of Star Trek mania. We didn’t ask for that damn actor to be all over the place. Hell, neither of us asked to be pulled from our homes in the first place, but…I’m not going to abandon you here just because this is a rough time for you. I’m not a crap friend.”

“No, you’re a good friend,” she said, her voice muffled because she’d buried her face in his chest. “You’re my best friend.”

“You’re mine, too,” he said, resting his chin on top of her head. “Just don’t tell Jim if he shows up.”

“I won’t. Promise,” she said, snuggling into him more. He started to smooth her hair back, listening as eventually her breathing slowed and he could tell she was asleep. Yeah, he’d keep doing what he could, be there for her however she needed him to be, but he just hoped that it got easier soon. They both really needed it to.


End file.
